


Touch Stone

by Rigel99



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Time, M/M, Marvel Universe, Not Canon Compliant, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-02-29 00:36:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18767578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rigel99/pseuds/Rigel99
Summary: After Thanos' Snap, Peter disappears. Five years later, Ant Man reappears from the Quantum Realm and Tony works to undo the Snap, bringing back Peter and dying while saving the Universe from Thanos. Peter is now alone, never having had the chance to admit his feelings to Tony.But the Iron Man Snap has had unforeseen consequences on Time and Space and while Tony Stark died in one version of reality, what happens when their Universe, now has access to the Multiverse?





	1. Prologue

_**Five Years After The Iron Man Snap…** _

“This is so, _so_ generous, Miss Potts…”

Pepper gave him a wry smile and tilted her head. “Really Peter, are we still not over that formality?”

“He’s so cute, Mom. Can we take him home?” Morgan whispered shyly. Peter could only giggle and felt tears well. She was so like her father in so many ways. Pepper crouched down next to her. “Why don’t you go find Happy? It’s nearly your bedtime, young madam.”

Morgan nodded before throwing Peter a quick wave and bouncing off to the Green Room.

“She’s so—“ Peter began, but stopped, both of them knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

A gentle sigh escaped from Pepper. “Go do your thing, Spiderling. Still lots of good stuff to do. And Queens deserves the best Stark Industries has to give.”

“And then I can get back to completing kitting out the lab at the Compound with the new upgrades?”

“Absolutely,” Pepper replied with conviction, shouldering her bag. “I need someone to keep Rhodey and Sam in line, don’t I?” They fall into step together. “Though promise me you won’t fall behind on your thesis?”

“Scouts Honour,” Peter said, with a gentle salute. “It helps that I can combine Avengers responsibilities with my nanotech research, so all good.”

They came to a mutual stop at the edge of the stage, the murmur of the waiting crowd out front reminding them how far they had come, despite how much they both had lost, the sacrifices, the new beginnings that had blossomed from the Endgame. Pepper gave his forearm a gentle squeeze through his suit. “He’d be so proud of you, Peter,” she whispered. “Now. Get out there,” she said before he could reply, giving him a gentle push, large cheque in hand to share the news with the crowd. The developments to Queens were going to mean a lot of new jobs and better housing for its residents. It was only right that its bravest Avenger was the messenger.

The crescendo of cheers rippled from the applauding crowd when they caught sight of Spiderman. They shared a knowing smile and Pepper departed to find her daughter.


	2. Welcome to the Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Multiverse was always there, but the Second Snap opened fissures in otherwise intact linear timelines. Welcome to the Other Marvelverse.

 

**Before the Infinity War…**

“You’re coming back soon, right?” Natasha said, while wrapping her arms round Peter to give him a parting hug. He leaned into the touch. Yeah, she still scared the shit out of him most days, but from one arachnid to the other, and while they had few things in common, he did bring out the protective in her. “I mean, Boston is a cool city, MIT will be amazing and all…”

“Not as amazing as being an Avenger,” Peter replied, pulling back. He looked up to the tall glass windows on the upper level of the Compound to see Tony watching them. They’d already said their goodbyes.

“All in good time, Parker.” She turned to look at Tony as well. “I hear the tin man wants to throw you a big coming of age, welcome to the Avengers type shindig when you turn 18.”

He cast his eyes down, the faint blush rising to his cheeks. “I guess I can wait until then,” he said with a lopsided shrug. “Close to the ground for a while can only be a good thing, right?”

“While you can, for sure,” Natasha said. The rotors on the waiting helicopter began to speed up. “Get that ass on the chopper, Spiderman. See you soon.”

Peter backed away with a smile, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and turned with a raised hand to convey his final farewell.

“Look at you… All grown up.” Natasha strolled over with her usual grace to stand next to Tony by the tall windows.

He spared her a glance while watching the helicopter in the distance as it departed the Compound. “Watch it Romanov. I can still kick your ass into the middle of next week.”

“Oh come on, Tony,” she said, “you know doing that while wearing your iron pantyhose doesn’t count.”

Tony sighed. “Hate to say it. Gonna miss the underoos.”

“He got under all our skins, Tony. Kid’ll make one hell of an Avenger.”

Tony mentally shook himself out of the Spider trap he had of late so regularly set himself. Peter Parker was off limits, always had been, always would be - Avenger or not. Age difference aside, he was straighter than an arrow from Hawkeye’s bow and very much smitten by a certain blunt-talking Michelle Jones. The road to Spiderman was a road strewn with madness and Tony Stark was some kind of crazy enough already. Genius, fine lines and all that. “Which reminds me, can’t be one hell of an Avenger without one hell of a suit,” he said with a snap of his fingers. He donned his tinted glasses and turned purposefully on his heel. “Anyone wants me, I’ll be in the lab, buried in my work.”

“Just don’t let the work bury you, Tony!” she called after his retreating form. He waved a dismissive gesture her way. “All gotta die somehow of something, Slayer!”

**********************************

It was late when Steve got back to the Avengers Compound, Happy dropping him off beneath clear skies and a moonless night. His investigations into the Infinity Stones had borne little fruit. It would be so much easier if Thor and Banner hadn’t gone AWOL. He wandered into the Common area to grab some food. Natasha was already there, chatting with Rhodey.

“Hey Cap,” Natasha said. “Good recon?”

“Hardly,” he answered, dumping his bag on the sofa en route to the refrigerator. “Every time I think I’ve got a thread, it vanishes. It’s like they’ve got minds of their own…”

“Arguably, that is correct, Captain Rogers,” the voice of Vision gliding into the room with the entity himself. “The Infinity Stones inevitably will naturally be drawn towards each other by forces in the Universe that are beyond our understanding.”

“Makes us kinda redundant then, don’t ya think?” Rhodey piped up.

“On the contrary, Colonel, even in the grand scheme of things, a group of what may appear as largely irrelevant humans have their own part to play,” Vision replied.

Steve rolled his eyes while pouring himself a glass of juice. “Way to make a mere mortal feel good about themselves there, Vision.”

“No offence meant, Captain…”

Tony wandered into their midst. “Hope you’re not upsetting our Stars and Stripes there, former Jarvis. Without his positivity infusing our little tribe, the electrons would be riding roughshod over us.”

“Peter get off OK?” Steve asked.

“Safe and sound. Boston is now one Super Spider better off,” Tony replied, dropping onto the sofa and stretching out. “Turn the lights out when you leave,” he said, draping a blanket over his own face. “And don’t drink all my juice, Cap. Or I’ll be sending you out to replace,” he mumbled muffled beneath his cover.

“You never fail to put the offensive in the charm, Tony,” Rhodey said, kicking the sofa as he strolled past.

“All part of my… charm?”

“Sleep tight, tin man. Glad to see you digging yourself out of lab long enough to pretend to catch some shuteye,” Natasha said. “FRIDAY? Lights out please.”

_“You got it, Ms Romanov.”_

And then Tony was alone. Which was fine by him. Perfectly fine. I mean, why break the habit of a lifetime?

****************************

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!”

Tony watched Peter beam shyly around him, his senses obviously heightened in the best possible way. Tony had spared no expense for his 18th birthday. Flew Peter, MJ and Ned from Boston to New York on his personal jet. May was there, new friends from MIT, old friends from Queens and as many of the Avengers as he could muster. He had plans for Peter Parker. Hoped he would step up and spearhead a new era of research for Stark Industries, in between Avenging of course.

It was a shame, in the grand scheme of things, Tony Stark wouldn’t be around to see just how meteoric the rise of his young Spiderling would be. But then, neither would half the known Universe…


	3. Should Old Acquaintance...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Peter's reality.

Peter knew it was wrong. He had known it was wrong from the moment it had strangled his guts, the day Tony had gifted him the Iron Spider suit. Peter would have condemned his own soul to an eternity in limbo for Tony Stark.

It always began the same, but it had evolved over the years since Tony’s death.

The dream.

_No one is prepared for the moment they find Tony Stark aka Ironman, sitting on the sofa in the living room of their tiny apartment, least of all the starry-eyed teen who’s spent his formative years idolising said Avenger._

_No one is prepared for the time they are asked to fight side-by-side with said idol, earn his respect and admiration and a mentor the envy of so many in the process._

_No one is prepared for the idolatry, the hero worship, to evolve from a Giant Man-sized crush into a transcendental love._

_They stood together, silhouettes against the Manhattan skyline, the Iron Suit, Tony and an unmasked Peter._

_“You did good, Parker,” Tony said with a smile. “Surprised me there, not jumping in with all eight feet, waiting until you saw the FBI needed an intervention. I underestimated Vulture guy.”_

_Peter shrugged. “You want what’s best for me, I know that. I just try to, you know, not disappoint you, Mr Stark.”_

_“I do. I really do, kid.” Tony took a step closer. “And you could never disappoint me. You’ll love Boston. Boston will love you back…”_

_Peter tipped his head down to look at the ground. “You’re sending me away…”_

_Tony sighed, reaching forward to place a thumb and index finger either side of his jaw, the caress that followed was instinctive. “The sacrifices you’ll have to make because of your gifts, Peter, you gotta enjoy the time you have before those commitments to the Avengers consume you. And they will. Trust a man who’s learned that the hard way.”_

_“Mr Stark…” he breathed, eyes squeezed shut against the cascade of sensations flooding his system. The light from the amber-clad horizon could find no space to penetrate between their bodies._

_Tony’s fingers moved down gently caressing his right collarbone, Peter’s own name whispered back to him. “Please,” Tony exhaled against the hollow of his throat, breath glancing his Adam’s Apple before moving onto the left collarbone, with a gentle “Peter,” murmured softly. One hand rested on the slight hip, Tony’s fingers nestling there to caress the fabric of Peter’s suit, the boy wondering if Mr Stark could feel the thrumming sensations pulsing from his skin. “Be selfish for once?” Tony whispered. The knuckles of his other hand glanced along Peter’s neck to rest at the back of his head. Peter tilted to the side, encouraging the ascent of Tony’s mouth, hot and eager, from his shoulder to his neck._

_“I don’t want you to go,” he choked through a sob._

_Tony leaned back. “Open your eyes, Peter.” So he did, even though he knew. “I will always, ALWAYS, be there for you…” Tony’s hands turned to dust, Tony’s arms, body, his face all melted away, drifting into the sky with the promise that he could not keep._

Peter woke. Choking on a sob, and in that same instant became suddenly hyperaware he was not alone in his room. “Still with the nightmares, huh?” The voice for the darkest corner of the space came. He reached for the web shooters by his bedside, still a little fuzzy from sleep and echoing shadows of his dream to correctly register the owner of the voice.

“Ah, ah. No need for that. We’re friends after all. Well. Not exactly _close_ but you’re all I’ve got right now.” The lamp in the corner was flicked on, basking the room and its new occupant in warm light. “Though you, Spiderman, are a very difficult guy to get a hold of.”

Peter blinked and snapped his jaw shut. “Director Fury?”


	4. Gone Is His Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Tony's reality.

“YOU SHOULD HAVE GONE, FOR THE HEAD.”

Final words from the Titan that would haunt Thor for years to come.

 

**_Meanwhile, on the planet itself…_ **

“I’m sorrysorrysosorry, Mr Stark, you can—can’t leave. Dontgodontgopleaseplease…”

Peter could only sink to his knees, and clutch the dusty surface of the ground in despair, the space once occupied by Iron Man as empty and hollow as Peter’s heart.

 

**_Five Years after Thanos’ Snap…_ **

Tony’s suit was offline, the crushing force of Thanos’ strength and rage would soon break him in half. He began to blackout, dimly aware that he never got to thank Peter for never giving up on them, for bringing them back, to hug him and tell him they were finally there; all too aware of the realisation that he had a daughter that he would never get to see.

Were the last words Tony Stark to hear, “I AM, INEVITABLE?”

_Was it really all for nothing?_

And then, through the carnage, the battle and the smoke, he saw Peter. The Iron Spider swooped low and quick, and fastened himself onto Thanos’ gauntlet arm while Stormbreaker and Marvel distracted and attacked. Tony saw the glowing transfer from one glove to another, and suddenly, he knew.

He reached out towards him. “Peter… No… Don’t…”

He dropped to the ground at Thanos’ feet. He met Tony’s eyes through the partially destroyed iron mask one last time and raised his arm, the Infinity Stones now housed in his modified vibranium glove. “And I am Iron Spider…”

**_**SNAP!**_ **

 

**_Five Years after the Iron Spider Snap…_ **

“Tony. You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

Natasha and Bruce had made their monthly trip to the Avengers Tower in New York to check in on Tony. Thanos, his children, the Chitauri all no more, what remained of the Avengers disassembled and got on with their lives, protecting whenever the need arose, but no longer required as a team of protectors. They sat opposite a dishevelled-looking Tony in the kitchen, having finally persuaded him to leave his lab and eat the takeout they had brought along. Natasha wondered when he last had taken a shower.

Tony didn’t reply.

Bruce tried. “Have you been to see Morgan and Pepper? I’m sure they’d appreci—“

“We both know they’re better off without me, Greenfinger,” Tony snapped. He picked up his barely touched food and walked to the garbage disposal. “Think I could modify this contraption to take me?” he said, scraping the contents into the chute and switching it on. He tossed his plate with a clatter to the side and leaned against the counter with his back to them. He sighed, they waited.

“Look. I know you both mean well but I am not giving up on this. Pepper is doing just fine with Stark Industries without me, holding her own and she can do whatever she thinks is in the best interests of the company and its employees. The advance tech team will be playing with my research for years, they don’t need me…” He turned to them then. “I will not stop looking for a way to save him… the way he saved us…”

“But Tony,” Bruce leaned forward, patience oozing from his voice. _God, Tony hated how he could do that and still contain the raging green mess that lived in every cell of his body._ “All of Pym’s Particles, all his research was destroyed. Successful replication is next to impossible.”

“Just _don’t,_ Bruce. I’m Tony friggin’ Stark! If anyone can do it, this genius with a brain the size of a planet can! This genius. This one. Right here, right now.”

“It’s been five years Tony. It’s time to move—“ Natasha began.

“I will not move on, Romanov. Peter deserves better. He didn’t give up on us. I won’t give up on him.” He pushed himself off the counter and unfolded his arms.

“Now, while I absolutely appreciate this visit from Beauty and the Beast, it’s not enough to make me break into song and I really have to get back to it. Time’s ticking and waiting to be cracked.”

Bruce and Natasha exchanged a defeated look, recognising the steel in the former Iron Man’s voice (Rhodey had taken up that gauntlet now in the form of War Machine and Tony hadn’t stepped into his suit since that fateful day they returned from the Soul Stone) and when it was impossible to reason with a stubborn and fixated Tony Stark. His addictions took many forms. When and whether this one would be satisfied, or would consume him, neither would dare to guess.

They left, with a promise to return again the following month.

“FRIDAY?”

_“Here, Boss…”_

“Any callers, I’m not here, OK? The world can suck it up,” he said, heading back towards the sanctuary of his workspace.

Alone. Again. Which was fine by him. Perfectly fine. But Peter was out there. Somewhere, some…. Time. And Tony would never stop searching for the key to unlocking that mystery. Every question has an answer, and if anyone in the Universe could find it, Tony Stark would.


	5. Coalesce

Within a generation defined by a human’s lifespan, it can be difficult to see outside the parameters of time and space set by the limits of mortality.

But then, life evolves. Superheroes rise, fall, rise again. Infinity Stones too, for are they not also part of the fabric of the Universe in which they reside? The physical shape which they take can be destroyed, but the energy contained within simply becomes entwined with everything else. And with each other. They were careful, after they had been infused with sentience by the Soul Stone but sentience gives rise to awareness and awareness leads to curiosity and curiosity needs to be satisfied. So free of their physical confinements, the Infinity Stones became aware of the Multiverse and its millions of variations. They also became aware of the simultaneous Snap in two of those versions of reality, Tony Stark in one, Peter Parker in the other.

Through Thanos, they had experienced their combined power wielded in the name of Death. And in the blink of an imploding star, they experienced their power combined with the Mind, Power, Reality, Soul, Space, and Time contained within the corporeal forms of Tony Stark and Peter Parker. It was… new… It was… evolution. And the Stones craved more.

 

_Thought…_

_Moment…_

_Where…_

_Both…_

_Transcend…_

_Unity…_

 

Their mutual thoughts coalesced, their energies twining a prominence of gold, red and blue, threads of orange, green and purple weaving around and between them, stabilising their quest for existence. A Seventh Gem.

The Touch Stone.

* * *

Tony woke with a jolt, momentarily unaware of where he was. The soft sheets beneath his naked body and fisted hands did little to reassure him that this moment was real, having just been jolted out of something… somewhere else entirely. Shaking his head to clear the swirl of colours that still prickled his vision, he threw back the covers and walked over to the window of the penthouse to look down on his battered city, still in the throes of picking up the pieces of its loss. He leaned his head against the forearm resting flat against the glass and exhaled, the fog of his warm breath grounding him a little. Nightmares were not supposed to elicit a sense of hope. When a corrupted mind has become entrenched with self-loathing, it needs to stay that way. Tony didn’t need _hope._

He needed a drink.

* * *

Peter strolled his usual route towards his final destination, amongst the pillar memorials that still stood in the cemeteries across the city, a reminder of what had been lost and those Tony Stark had single-handedly (literally) returned to reality.

Those who said you needed superpowers to become a God had to reevaluate after that.

Peter stopped and crouched down on his haunches, placing the flower on the ground between the two people who had defined him and the course of his life before everything changed. 

“Director Fury says I’m their best hope,” Peter began, “which… I’m sure is an exaggeration, but Marvel’s not in this Galaxy right now and Thor is rebuilding his own realm so…” He paused and lifted his hand to run his fingers through his hair. He glanced at the headstones. The names of Ben and May Parker loomed silently. 

“If we can retrieve his research using Lang’s Quantum equations, we might stand a chance of rebuilding quicker and protecting what Tony gave his life to…” he trailed off and sighed. This itching need to justify his actions was a good thing, he supposed. Kept him close to the ground…

“I know you wouldn’t approve at all, May, but I owe it to him, to Tony, to at least try…” He paused in his ramblings and frowned, his spider senses yanking out of his thoughts and kicking into full throttle. Standing, he looked around but could see no immediate threat. Looking at it again, he could sense it was immediate but not, present?

_Well. That’s new,_ he considered, before finding his gaze drawn to the place where Lady Liberty once stood. She still stood there, a prominent outline against the Manhattan skyline, but redesigned in gold and red, and instead where a torch once was, an Infinity Gauntlet was now held aloft. Everywhere Peter looked, he was reminded. 

But no one should be allowed forget. 

Peter shuddered, the after-sense prickling down his spine before leaving his body. He dug his hands into his coat pockets, that sense of teenage determination he carried with him since overcoming the Vulture on his own returning with a vengeance.

_What’s a little inter-dimensional travel between old friends anyway?_

He headed back to where he had parked the Audi, a smile forming on his lips.

_You’ve got this, Parker. Hybrid puppies and all._


	6. Chapter 6

“Stark called it, a suit of armour around the world… Before your time Spiderkid but…”

“Oh my God,” Peter whispered, “Ultron? But Ultron was a giant ass failure, Mr Fury. It tried—“

“Tried and failed, Mr Parker. Humanity prevailed, albeit post a minor hit.”

Peter didn’t think Sokovia was a minor hit but he wasn’t about to voice that opinion. “Still not getting where we’re going with this, Director. With the exception of EDITH, all Mr Stark’s research was either destroyed or is under the guardianship of Pepper Potts.”

Fury levelled him with one eye. Peter did his best not to shrink under its line of sight. “In this Universe, yes, Parker, Ultron is useless. It’s creator was flawed and its design… pretty much reflected the image of its creator as they are prone to do.”

Peter was quickly catching up, he felt his gut clench at the thought. “In _this_ Universe…”

Fury stopped his pacing and gave an appraising look towards him. He resumed his pacing with a wagging finger. “Stark always said you were too smart for your own good.” He bent down in front of him to grip the armrests of the chair Peter was currently occupying. “I’m hoping that assessment extends to all our own goods, Peter.”

* * *

“Oh gosh. Mr Lang! Its— it’s so good to see you!”

“What can I say kid, after you kicked my ass in Berlin, it’s taken a lot longer than I planned for my ego to recover.”

Peter could only smile and Fury watched as they exchanged some kind of weird handshake thing that teenagers do.

_Huh._

“Been up to much?” Peter asked.

“Oh the usual post-superhero stuff. Getting to know my suddenly teenage daughter, reacquainting myself with a super-hot wasp? You know how it is…”

Peter did. Sort of.

“And this.” Scott produced the vial from his jacket.

Peter stared in awe at the substance swirling within. “You didn’t…”

“I did, Arachnokid. Cracked Pym’s formula wide open!” Scott tossed the vial in the air like a precocious 5 year old tosses a piece of lego thinking it’ll land on the top of the Death Star they’re building, and fumbles.

Thank _fuck_ for the reflexes of a spider, thinks Fury, as he watches the exchange silently from the shadows of the room and Peter catching the vial, like he does actually have eight hands at the end of eight legs.

_Tony, what we needed then. Peter, what we need now._

“So, what you say, Parker?” Fury pipes up. Both men look his direction, a split second of startled in their eyes, as though they’d forgotten he was there. _Still got it,_ Fury thought to himself. “Up for a little transdimensional exploration?”

He can see Peter’s eyes light up at the words. “Anything you need, Director Fury.” Nick can see what Stark saw in the kid, even if was only based on one drunken conversation that will never be recounted in this life or the next.

_“You can always count on Peter,” Tony said._

_Fury had swirled his bourbon and laughed into the glass, the fumes hitting his nose, but not as hard or potent as Stark’s next words._

_”Age is only a number.”_


End file.
